How to Install Board & Batten Without Removing Your Baseboards

Love the look of board and batten, but don’t want to remove your baseboards? That was me, before this project. We just paid a lot of money to have 5 1/4″ baseboards throughout our brand new home, and I didn’t want to remove those brand new baseboards. But, I really wanted to install board and batten in my daughter’s room. So, I did! This post will walk you through how to install board and batten without removing your baseboards.

• Active Time: 8-10 hours
• Total Time: 1 weekend+ planning
• Power Tools Needed: Miter saw, Finish Nailer, and orbital sander (optional)
• Difficulty Level: Advanced Beginner (comfortable using a miter saw and finish nailer–or willing to learn!)
• Help Required?: Yes. You’ll definitely need help installing the horizontal trim boards (1 hour), and if you’re doing full length board and batten, you’ll need help with that too (1-2 hours).

Quick Note: If you’re looking for a more subtle board and batten look (and still wanting to keep your baseboards), consider using 1/4″ plywood! I did that for my entryway bench project, and it turned out perfectly. You can follow the same steps I did in my post here.

Disclosure: The links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no cost to you, I earn a small commission if you click the link and purchase the item. To view our full Affiliate Disclosure, click here.

Can You Really Install Board and Batten Without Removing Baseboards?

Yes! Although after seeing a lot of posts where people said you could leave your baseboard when you install board and batten, but then have to cut each 1×2 at an angle at the end, I wasn’t sure. Those were not my style. You could very clearly see the difference in widths between the 1x2s and existing baseboard, and I did not like that.

(I’m not going to share any of those pictures here, but you could just google it. You’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s not my style but it works well for some people!)

Then I found a post where they just added a 1×3 above the existing molding. That way the 1×2 ties directly into that 1×3. And, now it just looks like you have a larger molding at the bottom instead!

The Hardest Part Isn’t the Install. . .

The hardest part of any wood working project is calculating the amount of wood you need (aka Math). It’s the same for installing board and batten.

I love math. I’ve always been really good at it. But, this step always takes me hours.

So, don’t get discouraged if you get bogged down in this planning step! I promise this step is harder than anything else you are going to do!

And, if you want to keep it really simple, I’m going to share with you my exact measurements. So, if you like the height of my board and batten, all you’ll need to do is figure out the width of your walls.

Supplies Needed

• 1″x2″s for your vertical pieces (add a few more in case you miscalculated or make a few bad cuts. You can always return them if you don’t use them)
• 1″x3″s for your horizontal pieces (same goes for these pieces)
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Level
• Studfinder
• Miter Saw (a jig saw or circular saw will do if that’s all you have)
• Work Table for Saw
• Safety glasses & Ear Protection
• Wood Glue
• Finish Nailer & 2.5″ finish nails
• Nail set & Hammer
• Wood Filler
• Spackle Knife
• 220-grit sanding block or orbital sander with 220-grit sandpaper
• Tack cloth
• Paintable white wood caulk & caulk gun
• Baby wipes or a roll of paper towels
• Kilz Premium Primer
• Paint of choice for board & batten–I used Sherwin Williams Emerald Satin Paint in Extra White
• Paint of choice for wall (if different than board and batten)
• Paint Roller, Roller Covers, and Tray
• Angled Paint Brush
• Tinfoil to save paint rollers and brushes between coats (Best tip ever)

Before You Start: Paint Your Walls

If you plan on painting your walls, paint them before you start installing your board and batten. It will save you a ton of time and headache down the road when you’re working around the board and batten.

I painted the top portion of the wall before starting, and guesstimated where the board and batten would end. And, I only needed to touch up a few spots when I was done installing the horizontal boards.

I should have painted at least one coat of white on the bottom half of the walls. I didn’t it, and it cost me a ton of time painting the first coat on the walls and woodwork after they were installed.

Ok, once you’re done painting, let’s dive in!

Step 1: Decide on Your Board & Batten Design

The first step when yo install board and batten is definitely all planning and math calculations. Here’s a few things you need to decide:

• Do you want the board & batten to be the full length of the wall or partial? If partial, how high do you want it to be?
• Do you want to do single board and batten, or double (double is what I’ll be sharing today)?

We’re going to be talking about partial wall, double board and batten here. But, you can use these same steps to complete any board and batten project with 1x2s and 1x3s!

Once you make these decisions, you can start planning your walls and make your cut lists. For this tutorial, we’ll be using 1″X3″s for the horizontal top and bottom borders. And, we’ll be using 1″x2″s for the vertical battens.

Step 2: Make Your 1×3 (Horizontal) Cut List

The horizontal pieces (your 1x3s) are easiest to measure and figure out, so start there.

You’ll need to measure the widths of all the walls. Give each of your walls a letter so you don’t get confused. Write each number down. Since you’re doing a top molding and a bottom molding, you’ll need 2 1×3 cuts of each measurement.

Now figure out how many you’ll need to purchase. Each 1 x3 is 96″ long (or 8 feet). So work your way through each wall and figure out how many pieces you’ll need per wall.

For example, for wall A I needed 2 pieces of 145″ of 1 x3 (top and bottom). So, that’s 2 96″ pieces + 2 49″ pieces. So, I need 4 1x3s for Wall A.

Wall B is 118″ + there’s a window that interrupts the top molding. So, for the top molding I need 82″ of molding total (1 piece 16″ and 1 piece 66″). I can get both those in 1 1×3. For the bottom molding, I need 1 piece 96″ and 1 piece 22″, so I need 2 1 x3s for the bottom. That means a total of 3 1x3x for Wall B.

Repeat this same process with Walls C & D. Then once you add up how many pieces you need, add 2 or 3 pieces to that number. You can always return any extra pieces you don’t use. But, it’s a pain in the butt to go back to the store in the middle of the project for 1 or 2 pieces (I did it. It’s not fun.)

Step 3: Make Your 1×2 (Vertical) Cut List

Determine the Height You Want

Next step is focusing on your 1x2s. In deciding the board and batten height for my wall, I wanted to purchase as little wood as possible (since covid has made wood prices crazy high), but still keep the board and batten height higher than the middle of the wall (48″ on my 8 foot ceilings).

So, my goal was to get 2 pieces of board and batten for each 1×2= 48″ pieces of 1×2. Those 48″ pieces gave me a final board and batten of height of 58.25″ (2.5″ top molding +48″ 1×2 +2.5″ bottom molding +5.25″ baseboard). That was well above my halfway mark on my walls, so it worked for me.

Determine the Spacing Between Your Vertical Boards

This is another choose-your-own adventure point. You need to determine how much space you want between your vertical boards in your board and batten install.

Since I wanted to make this as simple as possible, I copied the spacing from my inspiration post from Sprucing Up Mamahood. I kept 2 inches as the smaller gap and 16 inches as the larger gap.

Plan Out Your Vertical Pieces to Determine Your Final Wood Amount

Ok, you have the height of your 1x2s figured out and the spacing. Now you need to calculate how many pieces you need.

I found it easiest to actually mark on the walls where each board was going.That let me visually see what the design was going to look like. And, it made it easier to count how many boards I needed.

Here’s some things to consider when you’re planning where to start those boards (and why you should plan it out before you start installing):

• Will the vertical boards run into an outlet or switch plate at any point? If so, adjust where you start by a few inches, so this doesn’t happen
• If you have a window on the wall, will the vertical boards run into the window sill? If so, adjust where you start.

What If You Have a Window?

You have two options when it comes to a window in the middle of your board and batten.:

• Continue the board and batten underneath the window sill, following the same pattern as the rest of the wall
• Skip the vertical boards under the window

I cut boards to fit under the window and marked their spacing. But then, once I installed all the vertical boards, I decided to skip them. And, I have zero regrets. My window is in the corner, and it’s pretty low to the wall. So, you really don’t notice the missing vertical pieces.

My advice: install all the vertical boards for the whole room before you make a decision. If you look at the window(s) and feel like they need the board and batten, add those pieces in at the end.

After marking out the whole room, I need 62 cuts of 48″ 1x2s, or 31 8 ft 1×2 boards. Don’t forget to buy a few extra in case your math is wrong or you make a bad cut.

Step 4: Buy Your Wood and Prime & Paint It

Once you have your materials list, head to the hardware store and buy your supplies. If you want to make your life significantly easier, buy sanded and primed wood. It’s well worth the extra money for the time savings you’ll have.

Once home, set up your painting area. I painted outside so I didn’t have to worry about paint on the floor, but if you need to paint inside, make sure you set up a drop cloth or some protection for your floors.

Also: If you didn’t buy sanded or primed wood, you’ll need to sand each piece, wipe it with tack cloth, and prime it before you start on painting (that’s your punishment for not following my advice-ha!).

If you bought sanded and primed wood (yay you!), you should paint 3 sides of each piece of wood with your paint roller (the sides visible when they go on the wall).

Do You Really Need to Paint Before You Install?

Painting before you install your board and batten is going to be annoying and tedious–I know. But, I want you to learn from my mistakes.

I painted my 1x3s but I did not paint my 1x2s before installing them on the wall. And, guess how long it took me to the first coat of white over the board and batten? 4 hours.

FOUR. HOURS.

So, paint 1 coat beforehand. It’ll take you an hour, instead of 4.

What’s this Tinfoil Trick You Mentioned?

My friend Taryn at Taryn Falconer Design Studio shared this tip on Instagram a few months ago. And, let me tell you–it works SO WELL.

Wrap your paint brushes and rollers in tinfoil if you need to save them (I used to use ziploc bags or plastic wrap. This is so much better). If you need to save them for more than 24 hours, through them in the fridge. When you need to use them again, unwrap and voila! your brushes and rollers are ready to go!

Step 5: Cut Your Horizontal Boards

Now that your boards are primed and painted, get ready to start cutting!

Before You Start Cutting: Cut 1 Wall at a Time

I used my miter saw to make all my cuts for this project. And, I only cut 1 wall at a time. Even though you measure precisely, there will be some variation in the wall and your cuts. So even though you cut 48″ 1x2s, you may need a few that are 48 1/8″ and a few that are 47 7/8″.

And, don’t stress if you have to make a few cuts a second or third time. I did!

So, stick to one wall at a time, and be prepared to make a few extra cuts.

Cutting Horizontal Boards & Angled Cuts

I installed my horizontal boards first, so I cut these first. That also meant I cut my angled cuts first.

This step can be a little tricky. Not only do you need to know the length of your cuts for your 1x3s, you also need to do how the ends need to look. Here’s a quick run down:

• If your piece is butting against a door or window, you should leave the edge straight.
• If it ends in the middle of the wall, or in a corner that juts out into the room, it’ll need to end with a bevel cut (the opposite of a miter cut).
• If it ends in a corner or joins a bevel cut in the middle of the wall, it should end with an angled miter cut, so it joins smoothly into the next board.

If you have a compound miter, the cut is easy to do. You just set the angle to 45 degrees for your miter and bevel cuts.

The hard part is making sure you are cutting the angle in the right direction to line up with your next piece (making a miter cut or a bevel cut). So double check which direction your angle cut needs to go before lining the wood up.

Confused? Me too. Sawdust Sisters explains it way better than I ever could, with drawings to show the difference between bevel cuts and miter cuts. Check out their post and then come back and keep reading.

If you’re new to this, don’t let this step scare you off! Just be prepared to make a few extra cuts–I did! I had to recut probably 30% of the boards. Sometimes that was just 1/4″ off; sometimes I had cut too much and need to use a new board.

Last tip: if it’s your first time making angle cuts, practice on some scrap wood. It’ll give you an idea of how much wood an angle cut will take off.

Step 6: Install Your Horizontal Boards on Your First Wall

Ready to start to see your vision come to life and install some board and batten? Let’s get those horizontal boards on the wall!

Start with the Bottom Horizontal Boards

I always start with the pieces that people won’t see as well, so it’s ok if I make a mistake. For this project, it’s the bottom horizontal boards.

And, for the horizontal boards, have your friend/husband/neighbor here to help! This part is significantly easier with a second pair of hands.

Put a little wood glue on the back of your first board. Then, line your board up against the wall, flush with the baseboards, pressing the wood glue into the wall.

You can place your level on top of your board to make sure it’s even before nailing it in. For the lower boards, I skipped that step, since I just cared if the board lined up with the baseboards (and I trusted that the person who installed the baseboard installed them mostly level).

Next, using your finish nailer, nail your board into the wall. I put two nails in (1 on top, 1 on bottom) about every 18 inches, making sure to start and stop about 1″ from the ends of the board. Lastly, wipe off any excess wood glue with a damp paper towel or a baby wipe.

Now, repeat these steps for the next piece of wood, until the lower border is complete.

Make sure you’re installing your miters and bevels facing the right direction! We definitely made that mistake at least once and ended up having to recut the next board as a result.

Install Upper Horizontal Border

Then, you’re going to install the upper horizontal border. You’re going to follow the exact same steps as below with one exception. You need to make sure your 1×3 lines up with the measurement you marked on the wall for the height of the board and batten. And, for the upper border, I definitely made sure to check that the boards were level before nailing them in.

Step 7: Install All the Horizontal Boards

Once you have one wall installed, repeat steps 5 and 6 until you have all your horizontal trim pieces installed.

Step 8: Make Your Vertical Cuts

Now, if you’re only doing a half wall of board and batten, here’s where you can say goodbye to your helper if needed–you can do the rest of this on your own.

If you’re doing full length board and batten, have them stick around and install the vertical boards with you too. The boards aren’t heavy, but they’re definitely hard to keep straight and glue and nail up at the same time when they’re 8 feet long.

Ok, time to make more cuts. These are going to be straight cuts, at the height you determined earlier (that’s 48″ if you’re using my measurements). I used my miter for these and was able to fly through them.

Tip: If you’re using the 48″ height, you’d think you could just cut your 96″ boards in half, right? Wrong. Those 8 foot boards are usually a little bit longer than 8 feet. So, make sure you measure out 48″ for each cut.

Step 9: Install Your Vertical Boards

Ok, now that you have all your cuts done, it’s time to install your vertical boards!

Measure Out Placement Before You Start

If you marked out where you want your boards earlier as part of the planning process, great! You can use those marks to install the boards now.

If you haven’t decided where you are putting the boards, do that now. If you’re using my measurements, I have 16″ as the long space and 2″ as the small space.

So, I measured out marks at 0″, 1.5″, 3.5″, 5″, and 21″ for each set of vertical boards. 0″-1.5″ is placement for board 1, 3.5″-5″ is placement for board 2, and 21″ is the start of the next set.

Installing Vertical Boards

Once you have marked where each board is going, start the install. You’ll follow the same process as you did for the horizontal boards.

Before you put the wood glue on, make sure your vertical board fits. As I mentioned before, sometimes you’ll need to trim a little off to make it fit, since there’s slight variations in the wall.

Once you ensure the board will fit, put a small bead of wood glue on the back. Line the board up with the mark and press it into the wall. Hold your level against the vertical board to make sure it’s straight. Then use your finish nailer and nail it to the wall, placing one nail every 12″-18″. Last, wipe up any excess wood glue that may have come out the sides with a damp paper towel or baby wipe.

Repeat this until all your boards are done on your wall.

Step 10: Install the Rest of the Vertical Boards

Ok, now you’re going to repeat steps 8 & 9 until all the walls are done!

After that, your board and batten install is complete! Take a breath, take some pics. Enjoy this moment for a minute. Then, get ready for the finishing touches!

As a heads up, these are going to take a while. So, if you need a break or want to save these for the next day, go for it.

Step 11: Wood Fill, Sand, & Tack Cloth

The first step for your finishing is using wood filler to cover any imperfections in the wood and alllllllll those nail holes.

To apply wood filler: Using your spackle knife, place wood filler in the defect and then scrape off any excess. Let dry for 2 hours. Then using a 220-grit sanding block or orbital sander with 220 grit paper, sand until smooth.

Once everything is sanded, wipe the whole wall with tack cloth to get up any of the dust. Get every nook and cranny–you don’t want any grit on the walls when you paint.

Have Nails That Are Sticking Out of Your Trim Boards?

Use a nail set! You can buy this great tool at any hardware store to help nail in those finish nails, without damaging the trim board with your hammer! Simply put the correct size nail set against the nail head that’s sticking out and strike it with a hammer a few times.

Don’t worry if you knock it in too far–you’ll just fill it with wood filler like you did all the others!

Step 12: Caulk

Next step to give you that professional board and batten look, is caulking allllllll the seams between the new wood and the drywall and baseboards.

There’s a lot of seams, so feel free to break this up. I tried a bunch of different ways to break it up, and after a few trials, this is the method that took the least effort and moved the fastest:

• Caulk one wall at a time
• Start at the top half of the wall while standing
• Caulk all horizontal seams you can reach from where you’re standing. Then all vertical seams, as you move along the top half of the wall
• Next sit on the ground. Caulk all horizontal seams you can reach from where you’re sitting. Then caulk the vertical seams you can reach.
• Then move down the wall and repeat this process until your wall is caulked.
• Repeat this for all 4 walls.

First Time Caulking?

1. Cut your caulk tube open at an angle.
2. Squeeze the tube to apply a small line of caulk where you need to. I typically apply about 12-18 inches at a time.
3. Next use your finger to smooth out the caulk and any remove excess.
4. Then use a wet paper towel or baby wipe to clean up any excess left on the wall. Repeat until you’ve caulked all your seams.

Step 13: Paint

I know what you’re thinking: Lauren, I already painted everything. Why am I painting again?

I know. It’s terrible. But, you need to put another coat of paint on the new wood trim for a few reasons. You need to cover up the wood filler and caulk. And, I promise it will seem more finished with a coat of paint over everything.

The method that worked fastest for me: I painted all the brush work for half a wall. Then used the roller to get the bigger spaces and go over the wood work.

And, once your paint dries, go back and check the spots you wood filled. Since the wood filler is darker, you may need to touch up this spaces with one more coat.

Voila!

Phew! You made it! You now know how to install board and batten on your walls without removing your baseboards–you’re basically a rockstar.

It’s definitely a long and labor intensive project, but the final results are oh-so-worth-it. Am I right?

Have Questions? Looking for More Home Decor Projects?

If you loved learning how to install board and batten, check out our posts on How to Install a Beadboard Accent Wall, How to Install Shiplap, and our Plywood Board and Batten Tutorial!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post in the comments below! Or, you can always send a direct message to us at our Contact Us page.

And, you can always find even more ideas if you follow us on our Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook pages!

Last but not least, please review our Disclaimer before completing any project we describe here.